In search of a bigger role
Buxom beauties, brave heroes, crass villains, loud dialogues, wild fights and boisterous music have been the staple of Punjabi cinema for long. Now, slowly, the industry is showing signs of change with top producers and NRIs pumping in money for serious productions like Waris Shah and Rustam-e-Hind. Randeep Wadehra looks at the record of Punjabi cinema, which has seen more downs than ups
There’s an old joke about Punjabis. Family A invites Family B and treats it to a sumptuous meal of rajma-chawal. The guests praise the hosts’ culinary skills. Then Family B invites Family A and serves rajma-chawal to similar compliments. All this simply implies lack of imagination and taste in Punjabi cuisine. Similar is the perception about Punjabi cinema – a hotchpotch of rustic violence, vendetta and vulgarity. Of course all this can be shrugged off as insinuations of the uninitiated as both Punjabi food as well as cinema have rich history and range – sweet, sour and spicy but seldom bland. Movies like Satluj De Kande, Madhi Da Diva and Waris Shah prove the point. It is true that for a rather longish phase inertia in creativity had set in. As a result, one saw rank bad productions spew violence and double entendre. But all this has changed in recent times with movies like Dil Apna Punjabi (Director Manmohan Singh; starring Harbhajan Mann, Neeru Bajwa, Mehak Chahal and Kanwaljeet), Mannat (Director Gurbir Grewal; starring Jimmy Shergiill and Kulraj Randhawa), Rustam-e-Hind (Directors JS Cheema & Sarabjit Beniwal; starring Parminder Doomshedi, Jagdish Bhola, Shivendra Mahal, Dr. Ranjit, Donny Kapoor) and Waris Shah (Director Manoj Punj; starring Gurdas Mann and Juhi Chawla) earning popular acclaim as well as critical appreciation. If the two Manns and Jimmy Shergill are the current poster boys then Donny, Kulraj, Mehak and Neeru are heart-throbs of GenNow both in India and abroad.
Overall the industry is showing signs of rejuvenation. In fact we are witnessing a trend wherein established producers like T-Series, Shemaroo and Tips have entered the Punjabi film industry in a big way. And with Bollywood directors like Manmohan Singh contributing their mite, things can only look up. Movies like Jee Aayan Nu, Asa Nu Maan Watna Da and Yaaran Naal Baharan have established Manmohan Singh as the industry’s Renaissance man. However, to put things in perspective, the current upsurge in the cinema’s fortunes is but a continuation of its impressive track record that has taken the dismal interregnum in its stride.
Vijay Tandon, noted actor-writer-producer, points out: "Punjabi cinema has had its moments of glory. Much before the Partition, Lahore was the main centre of the Indian film industry. Music, drama and comedy used to be the salient points of Punjabi cinema. Over a period of time movies belonging to different genres like comedy, romance, devotional, socials and serious or art cinema were produced. And don’t forget that Punjabis have played a pivotal role in making Bollywood a respected international brand name."
Tandon makes a valid point. Before the Partition, comedies with excellent music used to be very popular in the region. For example, Posti was a superhit and its hero Majnu a household name. Post-Partition, the trend continued. One of the hit comedies was Mulkh Raj Bhakhri’s Bhangra (1958), starring Sundar and Nishi. It was remade by Mohan Bhakhri as Jatti in 1980 with Mehar Mittal and Aparna Chowdhry, and once again it was a great commercial success. In fact Bhangra’s music (Hansraj Beh
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Punjabi Cinema > In search of a bigger role
